Why is Silicon Valley almost unanimously backing Donald Trump? What strategies do right-wing parties use when it comes to social media? And how do they manage to cast themselves as the advocates of the “little man” and the “little woman” despite their radical deregulation of the state? The historian Martin Tschiggerl is trying to find answers to these questions. He is a research associate at the Institute for Culture Studies of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW) and is currently a visiting professor at the University of Minnesota.

Collective shock at the universities

How has Elon Musk's “Roman Salute” been received in the USA?

Martin Tschiggerl: I teach in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which, despite its location in the Midwest, has remained a state with strong democratic roots, even in this election. Probably hardly anyone at the university voted for Donald Trump. People I meet here feel ashamed about what is happening in their country. I always tell them that there is no reason for that, after all, I am Austrian. This is familiar to us. But of course there is also a great fear in the US that university funding and social services will be cut relatively quickly. I think there is something like collective shock which I am currently perceiving.

There isa great fear that university funding and social services will be cut relatively quickly.

So the universities are preparing for massive cutbacks?

Tschiggerl: According to “Project 2025,” which comes from a think tank associated with Trump, a logical first step would be to bring critical universities into line. He has repeatedly announced that critical institutions will be hit first. His decrees mention that the “woke agenda” should be cut off from funding. But to answer your previous question: Elon Musk is just one problem among many. The fact that he sympathizes with the AfD is noticed, but it remains a marginal issue. People are focused on what is happening in their own country. Concerns about their own future dominate.

The tech bros want a weak state

How do you see the close connection with the American tech scene?

Tschiggerl: A lot has changed since 2016, when many of the big tech companies were still almost united in their opposition to Trump. Now almost all of them are in line, which is not surprising since they are mainly concerned with deregulation and accumulating capital. I think that the Trump administration will implement both. A weak, deregulated state will benefit them in the short term, but ultimately be to the detriment of us all.

The big tech companies are mainly interested in capital accumulation and deregulation.

Isn't it a paradox of the new right that it is increasingly focusing on nationalism but basically implementing extreme economic liberalism?

Tschiggerl: Of course it is absurd that right-wing parties present themselves as the advocates of the “little man” and the “little woman” while being the henchmen of big capital. They primarily make policies against the interests of their voters. Many have voted against their own interests, which is difficult to understand. Researchers will be pondering why this is the case for a long time to come.

MAGA: Back to the past

What is your theory?

Tschiggerl: The election campaign was very much about everyday life. Due to inflation, the prices of staple foods have risen in recent years. The slogan “Make America Great Again” conveys the feeling that at least a perceived collective decline must be stopped. I also think that the support of Hollywood stars and musicians has done more harm than good to the Democrats and has reinforced the narrative that they are an “out-of-touch elite”. The absurd thing about this is that Trump immediately put his millionaire friends in important posts. You couldn't be more of an elite than Musk, Bezos or Zuckerberg.

Trump promises a return to a supposedly golden past.

Trump has even managed to appropriate the queer anthem “YMCA” by Village People for himself. What has changed in the methods of right-wing politics?

Tschiggerl: Right-wing movements have always been very, very good at using new media for themselves. Joseph Goebbels instrumentalized radio, newsreels and films from the very beginning because it allowed him to reach a wide audience. Classic fascism at the beginning of the 20th century developed the futurism of a new era. Trump acts in a similarly messianic way, but at the same time also promises a return to a supposedly golden past. But you can also see in neo-fascist movements like "Identitäre" in Germany and Austria that they have appropriated strategies and techniques from the left. For example, they rely on street activism, which was previously the domain of classic left-wing movements.

And what about the social media?

Tschiggerl: Right-wing parties are also extremely innovative in this regard. Trump won many young votes because he and his entourage knew how to use social media and memes. Our image of digital transformation as a cultural phenomenon has changed significantly. If you read texts from the 1990s, there was a strong sense of euphoria and utopian hope that new times were dawning because people were suddenly connected and all the world's knowledge was available to everyone. People hoped for an era of neo-enlightenment. A good three decades later, the exact opposite has happened. A very dark, dystopian picture has emerged.